


the incompatibility of love and science

by cryptibug



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Angst, Bisexual Fiddleford, Bisexual Stan Pines, Fluff, Gay Ford Pines, Hurt & Comfort, M/M, Soulmate AU, college-age fiddauthor, fiddauthor - Freeform, following the journal timeline once theyre in gf together, slowburn, soulmate tattoo, stan being a good brother, this is a bill hate club, time skip to research-age fiddauthor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:36:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27578594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cryptibug/pseuds/cryptibug
Summary: the knowledge that ford had a soulmate was something he always actively chose to ignore. why should he let some pair of glasses tattooed onto his arm get in the way of the bright plans he had for his future? but when he meets a scholarly, banjo-playing, tennesse-raised man in backupsmore with a tattoo of a six-fingered hand, he’s taken aback. he wonders if growing close to his (supposedly platonic) soulmate will harm or benefit his work, or somehow both. only time will tell.
Relationships: Emma-May Dixon/Fiddleford H. McGucket, Fiddleford H. McGucket/Author, Fiddleford H. McGucket/Ford Pines, Ford Pines & Stan Pines
Comments: 3
Kudos: 38





	1. introductions and strange feelings

**Author's Note:**

> wow !!! so,,, hi guys!!!! i have big plans for this fic and really hope u all like it. i’ll be switching between writing this and my other fic (gf sequel with mabifica, i certainly recommend if you havent read it) so i may be slow at times but i fully intend to keep writing both.  
> i realized that backupsmore has no canonical location, so i picked pennsylvania since its kinda a half way point between ford and fidds’ home states (new jersey and tennesse).  
> i was deadass rereading journal 3 (which i havent actually read start to finish in a couple years) and literally the entire idea for this fic came to me, and i ended up planning it start to finish. i love these boys so much.

Stanford Pines was a curious man, but the concept of soulmates was something he refused to think twice about.

Not everyone had a soulmate tattoo. His father didn’t, nor did his brother, Stanley. His mother did, but she’d clearly given up on the search for her soulmate long ago. Soulmates could be either romantic or platonic: the bond of lifetime lovers, or a true best friend. Being hit with the hard truth at a young age that most people don’t end up with their soulmates conditioned Ford into thinking the concept of true love, whether romantic or platonic, was a waste of time. He loved his brother, and that’s all he needed.

But yet, he lost his brother. Kicked out of the house by their own father before he could even graduate high school. Despite missing him, Ford focused on school, determined to keep his eyes on the prize. He felt that his soulmate wasn’t the person represented by his tattoo, but his work and his research. After losing his chance of a scholarship to his dream school, West Coast Tech, he ended up in Pennsylvania at the underwhelming Backupsmore University.

Fiddleford McGucket spent more time wondering about his tattoo: a six fingered hand. Was it meant to be taken literally, meaning his soulmate had six fingers, or was it one of the more figurative tattoos, implying some metaphor he did not yet understand? He pondered the gender of his soulmate and whether it’d be romantic or platonic. The man already knew he could love either a man or a woman. He wished he could be open about it, but alas, in the 70’s he knew he’d be safer concealing his sexuality. But regardless of his soulmate curiosity, his passion for robotics and advanced tech remained as his focus. Despite being accepted into his dream college, (which also happened to be West Coast Tech), he couldn’t afford to go there, so he settled for Backupsmore.

Ford first met Fidds during his third year of college. Fidds was a year younger than him, being in his second year, but they ended up in the same class: Robotics II.

Ford entered the classroom and took an empty seat a few rows back from the front. He watched as the professor sorted through papers at his desk. School had already started a few weeks ago.

A gentle finger tapped on Ford’s shoulder. “Hey, d’you mind if I sit here? I normally sit in the front, but all those seats are taken.”

Ford turned to look at the boy: thin and a few inches shorter than him, with light brown hair and round glasses that rested atop a large nose. He wore a patterned button-up tucked into a pair of loose pants with brown derby shoes. Ford felt captivated without having any clue why. “Y-yes, of course.”

The boy sat down at the empty seat next to him and unloaded his bag. Ford drummed his fingers on the hardcover of his textbook, which caught the other’s attention.

“Holy hootenanny! Your hands!”

Ford sighed and mentally prepared himself to be ridiculed by the person he’d just met. “Yeah, polydactyly. Weird, I know—“

“Weird? Well, maybe, but I think it’s incredible! I’m Fiddleford, but I go by Fidds.” Fidds offered his hand.

Ford examined Fidds’ face, lit up by childlike wonder and curiosity. He seemed... oddly excited. Ford had never seen anyone react so positively to his hands, and he couldn’t help but feel fuzzy because of it. He shook Fidds’ hand with a smile. “I’m Stanford. If you’d like to call me Ford, that’s fine by me.”

After class, the two walked to their dorms together, getting to know one another.

“So, where did you intend to go to college? What was your first choice?” Ford asked.

“West Coast Tech. They accepted me an’ I thought I had a shot, but I couldn’t afford it.”

“Remarkable, it was mine, too! I was astonishingly close to receiving a scholarship, but unfortunately my project, well... broke, to put it simply. I wonder if we still would have met each other if we both went there?”

“I reckon it’s likely,” Fidds stopped in front of one of the dorm houses. “This here is my dorm. See you back in class?”

Ford smiled and waved. “I’ll see you in class, Fidds.”

Ford continued walking until he reached his dorm, which was only a few minutes away from Fidds’. He let his mind wander away from thoughts of his assignments and upcoming tests, and reflected upon his feelings about his new friend. Something about Fidds seemed special; a gut feeling told Ford that he’d met someone amazing, someone he needed to keep close.

The rest of the week flew by. Ford and Fidds now sat next to each other for good, talking to one another before and after class and collaborating as they worked. In only a few days of knowing each other, one could observe their interactions and guess they were lifelong friends.

The Sunday night after that week, the two sat in Ford’s dorm, studying for their test the following day.

“Ford, you wanna take a break? We’ve been studyin’ for two hours.” Fidds rubbed his eyes.

“You can never study too much, Fidds! This is our first test in the class and I need to ensure that I’m extra prepared—“

Fidds eyed the steaming cup of coffee which sat atop a textbook next to Ford (which was quite a spill hazard, considering they sat cross-legged on Ford’s bed). He picked it up and placed it on the bedside table, away from Ford’s reach.

“You know I was drinking that.”

Fidds chuckled and closed his notebook. “That was your second cup an’ it’s nine o’clock. I’m jus’ looking out for you, Stanferd. You’re gonna do jus’ fine on this test, better than fine, even—I’ll bet you’ll ace it.”

Ford sighed and stretched. “I suppose you’re right.”

“Can I tell you somethin’?”

Ford raised an eyebrow at Fidds’ suddenly serious tone. “Oh, well, sure. What is it?”

Fidds pulled up his short sleeve to reveal the tattoo of a simple outline of a six-fingered hand just below his shoulder. “I’m guessin’ your tattoo wasn’t obvious enough?”

Ford’s eyes widened in shock and looked from Fidds’ tattoo to his hand. “I... that’s incredible!” Ford drew up his own sleeve to look at his own tattoo: a pair of glasses in the same simplistic style. Two soulmates’ tattoos were always in the same spot, and in the same ‘art style’, so to speak; someone with a detailed, colorful tattoo could not be the soulmate of someone with a simple colorless outline like Ford’s. “A platonic soulmate always made more sense to me anyway.”

Fidds felt disappointed at Ford’s tendency to instantly rule out any romance between them, but didn’t show it. “Heh, yeah. Never thought I’d meet my soulmate so young, an’ in Backupsmore, of all places.”

Ford pushed aside his books and leaned against some pillows propped up between the bed and the wall. “It all makes sense now. The glasses represent a scholar. This explains why I feel like I’ve known you my whole life despite the fact that it’s been a week!”

“D’you wanna play a game or somethin’ before I head out? You’ve been studyin’ all weekend, you should have some fun before it ends.” Fidds suggested.

Ford’s face lit up. “I’m so glad you said that! Just recently I purchased this game, ‘ Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons’ , and I’ve been looking into it but haven’t had anyone to play it with yet! I think you’d love it.”

“Count me in!”

The pair spent the next hour playing DD&MD. A few moments passed where Fidds would look at Ford a moment too long, feeling rather fuzzy inside from seeing him so concentrated, or from hearing his deep belly-laugh when Fidds told him a joke that he only expected a small, polite laugh from.  _Platonic soulmates are supposed to feel like this, right?_ He asked himself.

Yet Ford had done the same thing. Unable to consider the possibility of romantic feelings like Fidds, he didn’t hesitate to register all this as ‘a soulmate thing.’ Because, of course, platonic soulmates occasionally catch the other staring and get this strange feeling in their stomach because of it—not nausea, a  _good_ feeling—he didn’t think twice about it.

Fidds packed up and headed back to his dorm, contemplating his feelings, while Ford cleaned up and prepared for bed, blissfully unaware of his.


	2. an escape from work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in celebration of high test scores, ford and fidds spend their friday together. ford realizes how long it’s been since he’s actually had this much fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, i know ford and fidds each having a dorm to theirselves is pretty unrealistic but,,,, this is just to the convenience of the story LMAO. also currently ford is 20 and fidds is 19. i wont be specifying what exact year it is until later on, but by then they will be older. their ages are really just up to your interpretation, really.

Fidds ripped off the corner of his notebook paper and slid it over to Ford’s side of the desk.

Ford read the note:  _hi_ , next to a small doodle of a raccoon. Ford paused, then quickly (careful not to miss out on the robotics lesson) jotted  _Hello!_ and doodled an owl next to the raccoon, and a heart between them. He passed it back. Fidds pocketed the note.

“I’m rather anxious about our test grades. Why must we have to wait until Friday to know? I bet mine’s already been graded,” Ford complained as they walked through the courtyard after class.

“Hey, relax, Ford, like I said the night before, the chances of you acein’ it are pretty damn high. You’ve got nothin’ to worry about.” Fidds reassured.

“As much as I’d like to believe you, Fidds, I don’t think I’m capable,” Ford looked around, confused. “Wait, didn’t we pass your dorm already?”

“Oh, yeah, I was thinkin’ we could jus’ hang out here in the courtyard for a bit, if you’re up fer it.”

“I don’t see why not. I do have plenty of time before my next class.”

They took a spot by the shade of an oak tree and laid in the grass, cloudgazing.

“Let’s talk about somethin’ other than school,” Fidds suggested. “When’s the last time you did somethin’ like this? Cloudgazin’, I mean?” 

Ford took a breath. “Oh, wow, that must have been years ago—early high school, maybe—with my brother.”

Fidds raised his eyebrows. “Yer brother... you’ve never told me about him. What’s he like? How old is he?”

“He’s my twin. He’s stubborn, headstrong, and always getting into trouble...” Ford trailed off. “I’m not sure I’m ready to talk about him, I’m sorry.”

Fidds turned over and leaned on his elbow to face the other. “Hey, that’s alright, you can take all the time you need. Family’s a boring subject, anyway. What’s yer favorite snack?”

“Definitely jellybeans. What about you?”

“Well, I don’t know if it counts as a snack, but I’m real fond of Baron Num Nums High Flyin’ Beans. I grew up with ‘em, so it’s kinda like a nostalgia thing.”

Ford chuckled in response, eliciting a half-offended “What?” from Fidds.

“So, would you just cook a can of beans at three p.m. for an afternoon snack?”

Fidds smiled playfully. “So what if I did?” He laid back down onto his back and pointed up at the sky. “See if you can find any shapes.”

“That one’s certainly a dog.”

“What? No way, it’s a mouse for sure.”

“A mouse? How do you see a  mouse , Fidds?”

“How do you not?”

After some bickering over the cloud’s shape, they decided to split off and head back to their dorms.

****

Soon enough Friday came, and an anxious Ford sat at his desk despite class already being dismissed. The professor sat at the front, showing students their test grades.

“You gonna get up? Everyone else’s almost gone already.” Fidds leaned onto the table, his hand flat on its surface.

“What if I made a low ‘A’, Fidds? I can’t just waltz up there all confident if knowing my grade is going to destroy that confidence!”

Fidds sighed. “Do ya want me to ask fer you?”

“I—yes please.”

Ford slowly stood up and collected himself as Fidds made his way to the professor’s desk. He asked for both his grade and Ford’s, and was more than satisfied with the response.

“C’mon,” Fidds grabbed Ford’s hand and excitedly led him out the classroom. “Let’s go to yer dorm, we’re gonna play DD&MD.”

“What? Why?” Ford, though perplexed, let Fidds tug him along.

“To celebrate! I got a 100, an’ you got—get this—a 105! I didn’t even think extra points were possible!”

Ford’s eyes lit up, but then squinted in dismay. “How do I know you’re not making that up?”

Fidds groaned. “Stanferd, are you serious?”

“Alright, alright, I believe you. As much as I’d like to play DD&MD, this week kept me so busy that I haven’t planned a campaign.”

“Which is exactly why I planned one myself!”

The pair, upon arriving in Ford’s dorm, spent the next couple hours playing the game, until they reached the end of Fidds’ campaign and had nothing else to do for the time being.

“Well, I suppose that’s the end of our day. Are you going to head back?” Ford asked as he cleaned up the board and loose sheets of graph paper.

“Why, so you can go to bed at nine-thirty? It’s a Friday, Ford, loosen up.”

“Define ‘loosen up.’” Ford furrowed his eyebrows.

Fidds laughed. “Of course I don’t mean go to some crazy party or somethin’ like that, but we should still go out somewhere. How’s about we grab some hot tea at the bookstore coffee shop? We won’t even have to leave campus.”

“Is their tea even good?”

“Eh, it’s just yer average tea. But that doesn’t matter, what matters is that we’re spendin’ time together outside of class. I mean, we  are soulmates.”

“That’s irrefutable,” Ford smiled. “Let’s go, then.”

****

“What do soulmates talk about when they’re not studying together?” Ford asked as he and Fidds took a seat at a table, waiting for their tea.

“Hmm, on the topic of tea, ya drink it a lot? Got a favorite kind?”

Ford drummed his fingers on the table, with six consecutive  thunks. “I don’t drink it much, I’m more into coffee. But I do like it, and when I have it, it’s more of a special occasion.”

Fidds gave him a warm smile. “Glad to know this is a special occasion, then.”

“Of course! I’m so thankful to finally have someone to actually be friends with. These past couple years I’ve spent mostly on my own, only with the few acquaintances and study partners. I didn’t mind it very much, but every so often this wave of loneliness would hit me.”

Fidds laughed. “Ya know ya could’ve tried harder to make friends, right?”

Ford scoffed in playful accusation. “Fiddleford, you’re the exception, but most of the people here are brick walls. No one came here as their first choice—some people never had a chance at making it; but we don’t belong here, and I think that’s why we were drawn together.”

“Ya mean that an’ the soulmate thing?”

“Well, yes, you know what I mean.”

Just a moment later their drinks were ready—chai for Ford, and earl grey for Fidds—so they retrieved them and sat back down.

Ford blew on his steaming chai. “I don’t understand why they heat it up to be so hot. It’ll take at least a minute to cool off to the point where it won’t burn my tongue!”

“Ya haven’t tasted it yet, why don’t ya try it?”

“There’s no way I’m taking that chance. You can go for it, though.”

Fidds shrugged and took a small sip from his tea, then smacked his lips. “Too hot to be able to taste it yet, but it didn’t burn my tongue, so that’s good.”

They spent the next ten minutes chatting and drinking their tea. Over the course of the time the spent together, Fidds started to pick up on Ford’s little habits and details: how he’d rest his hand at his chin in thought, how he’d tug at his collar or rub the back of his neck, how his glasses would slide down his nose and stay there for awhile before he thought to push them back up, the way his eyes lit up when talking about his interests... Every time Fidds noticed one of these, the feeling it gave him made him and less and less certain that his feelings for the other man were purely platonic.

Meanwhile, Ford’s increasing attraction slipped by him, for many reasons, but one being because of its subtlety. He found Fidds’ accent and dialect so intriguing—cute, even, but people often feel that way about any accent that isn’t their own. Ford, who had somehow never felt butterflies in his stomach in his twenty years of life—figured this new feeling in his stomach that Fidds gave him was a soulmate thing. 

After finishing their tea they slowly walked back in the direction of their dorms, both unsure since they hadn’t yet specified if their evening was over or not. Fidds looked at his dorm building ahead of him and stopped walking. He spun on his heel to face Ford. “Let’s have a sleepover.”

“A—a what? Do you mean in one of our dorms?”

“Heh, yeah, where else would it be? Ya haven’t seen my dorm yet, it’s perfect—I was supposed to have a roommate, but the person switched dorms last minute an’ they never found a replacement, so I got an extra bed. And a shower fer myself.”

Ford gaped. “Are you serious? Why haven’t we been hanging out in your dorm all this time?”

“‘Cause you’re the one with DD&MD. I actually have another campaign planned, it’s not much, but I figgered I’d save it fer later. So bring that, an’ a toothbrush, pj’s... an’ whatever else you’ll need fer the night,” Fidds headed toward the entrance to the building. “Try to be here in the next half hour. I’ve got extra blankets but you’ll needa bring a pillow. My dorm is number 202. See ya soon!”

The door shut behind Fidds before Ford could argue. He tried to gather everything Fidds just told him:  bring DD&MD, a pillow, sleep stuff.

Ford thought to himself as he made his way to his own dorm:  _have I ever had an actual sleepover?_ His only real friend was Stanley growing up, and they lived together. One time they snuck out and camped out at the Stan o’ War for the night, but that didn’t quite qualify as a sleepover. He couldn’t help but wonder what people even  _do_ at a sleepover. Regardless, he packed with haste, and soon found himself knocking at Fidds’ door.

He opened the door with an eager smile. “You’re just in time! The ramen’s still hot.”

Ford entered the room, sat on the empty bed, then dumped his bag and pillow next to him. “The ramen?”

“Yup! I figgered you’d be hungry fer dinner so I went ahead and heated us up some ramen.” Fidds picked up two cups of ramen, still in the packaging, and handed one to Ford. “Eat up.”

“Thank you, Fidds, but you didn’t have to do this.”

“You’re right, I didn’t, but I wanted to. Stuff’s cheap anyways. Now eat it before it’s lukewarm.”

Ford smiled and dug in. “So,” He said through a mouthful of ramen. “I’ve never been to a sleepover. What do we do?”

Fidds gawked. “Never? Sweet sassafras, Stanferd. That means I gotta make your first one extra special. We’re about to have these  all the time.”

“Well, that’s great, but you didn’t answer my question, Fidds.”

Fidds laughed. “Right. Well, we’ll play DD&MD, listen to music, maybe talk about the secrets of the universe... we’ll jus’ see where the night takes us.”

“That sounds... fun, Fidds. Really fun.”

And so they did. The last time Ford enjoyed himself so much was with Stan. For the night he didn’t think about his classes, his homework; he didn’t worry.

After a few hours Ford used Fidds’ shower. Upon getting out, he realized he’d left his change of clothes in his bag, so he wrapped his towel around his waist and left the bathroom to go retrieve them from his bag. He didn’t take notice of Fidds, who sat on his bed drinking a cup of water and listening to Grateful Dead through the small radio on his bedside table, until he promptly choked on his water. Ford turned to face him. “Fidds! Are you alright?”

Fidds coughed and cleared his throat, appearing to be fine, but with a peculiarly red face. “Y-yes! Fine and dandy. Did’ja, um, forget yer clothes, or...?”

Ford retrieved his pajamas out of his bag. “Heh, I did. I’m sorry, I suppose I could’ve just asked you to grab them for me—“

“No, no, it’s fine. No worries. A-all good.”

Ford made his way back to the restroom to change. Meanwhile, Fidds tried his hardest to calm himself down.

“Okay,” He mumbled to himself. “Maybe I do like him, like... like  that. But I can’t be irrational. If I get the sense that he likes me back, maybe— _maybe_ —I’ll go fer it. But if not, I’m keepin’ this to myself.”

Ford then returned in checkered pajama pants and an oversized Backupsmore t-shirt, yawning as he plopped back onto his bed. He’d fluffed up his hair with a towel in an attempt to dry it, only making it slightly less wet and rather messy.

Fidds mind raced:  _Goddammit, I’m blushin’ again. Why does he have to be so cute? Oh, he’s lookin’—_

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

“I’m jus’—erm—a little hot, that’s all. The AC in here doesn’t always work. I’m gonna go get changed too, I’ll be jus’ a moment.”

To Fidds’ convenience, Ford’s obliviousness prevented him from having suspicion, despite his abnormally high IQ. 

“Thank you, Fiddleford. I had no clue how much I needed this,” Ford said after Fidds returned from changing in the bathroom.

“Why of course, hardwirin’ yer brain to make you some sorta work-robot for all of college wouldn’ta done ya any good. It’s okay to take breaks and have fun, y’know.”

“Yes, yes... I just have big goals that I’m working toward, and I want to ensure that I achieve them as soon as possible.”

“So havin’ a sleepover with yer soulmate every so often is gonna compromise that goal?”

“You’re right, you’re right. We can do this again. I really do like it.”

“Me too,” Fidds turned on a small lamp on his bedside table and then turned off the ceiling light, dimming the room. “Hey, what kind of woman do you wanna marry?”

“Oh, that’s...” Ford took a deep breath. “That’s interesting. In all honesty, I’ve never imagined myself settling down with a woman, and I don’t know why. Perhaps it’s a fear of commitment or routine, but... I don’t fret on that much.”

As much as Fidds longed to ask  _“What about marrying a man?”_ He feared a negative reaction, so he stayed silent.

“What about you, Fidds?”

“Well, as long as we love each other an’ make each other happy, I don’t care too much. I spent more time thinkin’ about who my soulmate could be.”

Ford gestured to himself with a grin. “Are you content with him?”

“Certainly,” Fidds picked up a bag of jelly beans from his desk and tossed it to Ford. “Don’t know if ya saw these yet, but they’re fer you.”

Ford looked at the bag then back to Fidds with sparkles in his eyes. “Okay, thank you so much, I am  definitely going to enjoy these—but seriously, stop buying me food.”

“No promises.”

They ended up launching into a conversation about their favorite sci-fi novels as Ford ate his jelly beans, Fidds eating a few as well. Soon enough the clock read eleven, and the pair agreed on settling down and getting comfortable for the night. They would have stayed up far later if they weren’t facing the built up fatigue from their school week.

They talked a little while longer as they laid in their beds, their voices becoming more hushed and groggy as they approached sleep. Once Fidds stopped hearing soft  mhm ’s and  yeah ’s from Ford after he’d rambled for awhile (Ford faced the other way, so Fidds couldn’t see his face), he shut off the lamp. “Goodnight, Ford.”

**Author's Note:**

> this chap was shorter since it was an intro, i plan for the rest of the chapters to be longer. this fic is also gonna take place during the boys’ college years but also their research together in gf, so there will also be some time skips.


End file.
